When Dad Plays

For a kid who loves the outdoors, the winter months of indoor play can seem so long. It takes a stretching of the imagination, these hours upon hours of time without world to explore (with stick in hand).

One morning Ryan was digging around in the game cabinet and found a pack of playing cards with airplanes on the back. He ran into the kitchen and nearly yelled "Mom! Look at this AIRPLANE!" (You would have thought it swooped down in our front yard for all of his excitement). He turned his head to the side and said in a sweet voice "Do you think we could make this?"


"Make this? What do you mean, Ry?"

"Oh, like make the airplane!"

"Oh, I don't know...we could try, I guess. You get started."

And at this point my mom-brain turned back to the stack of dishes and the rising bread dough. Minutes later the silence was once again broken by a now discouraged preschooler.

"I can't do it mom. It doesn't work right."

He pulls me by the hand into the living room, where he has dismantled the couch and the cushions are piled un-dramatically into a heap in the center of the room.

"See? I don't know how to make the wings." He holds up the playing card, still clutched in hand, and shrugs sadly.

"Well...honey, I don't know that we can make an airplane out of couch cushions."

"You see how this has wings, mom? Like this one and this one?" he turns the card slightly so he can see and still show me, and traces the wings of the plane with his fingers. This is important.

But truly, I am at a loss. Airplanes are pointy...couch cushions are very un-pointy.

"Maybe you just need to pretend, sweetheart."

And then Phil walks in. Dads just think differently.

"He is trying to make the airplane with the cushions." I nod at the heap hesitantly.

Ryan is right behind me, pleading his case with Dad. "You see dad? It needs wings like this one and this one."

"Oh, well...let's see what we can do."

Retreating to the kitchen to finish my chores, I only hear muffled voices as the boys work. And then, sure enough, I am interrupted once again. This time, though, by Phil. "You want to go see his airplane?"

And I walk in to the living room to see a boy, grinning ear to ear, thrilled with the results of his real-live airplane. As he sits in the cockpit, ready to take off, I can't help but be delighted at a dad and his creativity.

Dads just think differently...and I'm so glad they do.


Other things we have done to pass the time, sans-TV:

• Go on a bear hunt
• Hunt for letters/colors/etc.
• Play animal charades (using stuffed or plastic animals chosen from a pillow case)
• Play-doh and coloring
• Lots of cooking!
• Cleaning (they do the hand-vacuum, dusting, sorting and towel-folding)
• Play the game of opposites (say this quietly, loudly, be small, be tall)
• Sing songs (hokey pokey, little teapot, if you're happy and you know it)
• Cut out pictures of produce and make a garden calendar for Spring

Our wonderful sister-in-law sent us this book for Christmas, and it has been a lifesaver. They have different versions for different ages, and I highly recommend it. I am thinking about getting one for David's age, because many of the preschooler activities involve items that would be too old for him...but come to think of it, he delights in just running as fast as he can after that big brother of his, anyway. "Toddler Busy Book, idea number 366: Get him a big brother."